Woodworkers often have to “true-up”, or form lumber into flat surfaces, as part of a woodworking project. For example, most hardwood lumber or boards for cabinetry type purposes are typically sold in a relatively rough form. Due to varying transport and storage conditions, lumber may deform or include defects due to improper storage, variations in humidity, temperature variations, and the like. A hardwood board often is retailed with various defects or abnormalities which require correction prior to utilization or incorporation into the project. Defects may include cupped boards (a board which is not planar across its secondary axis (forms a bow across the width of the board)), a warp or twist (along either axis), and the like. Correction of these defects often requires a significant amount of skill/time in order to insure a proper finish such as a proper face joint between adjacent boards in cabinet panel.
When utilizing a jointer, the final condition of workpiece may be at least partly attributed to the user's skill at maintaining the proper down-pressure on the workpiece as it passes by the cutterhead. In particular, some level of skill may be required for the user to maintain uniform down pressure on an outfeed side of a jointer; thereby resulting in a uniform finish on the side of the workpiece being jointed. In some instances, mock defects may be created if a user stresses the workpiece during shaping operations. Excessive down-pressure on a bowed piece of lumber, during jointing operations, may cause the board to deform back into a bowed, or cupped shape, once pressure is relieved; thereby failing to properly finish the board. Further problems may include a workpiece being twisted or rocked between an infeed table and outfeed table during jointing operation. In the previous example, the resulting workpiece may include a non-uniform edge requiring further refining prior to utilization in the project.
Commonly, a jointer is utilized to generate a flat edge on a board (a minor side) prior to utilizing a planer to remove material from a primary face of a board, thus resulting in a board which has two flat sides. In practice, this goal may be difficult for a novice to achieve or may be time consuming. In some instances, a planer may fail to correct the defect and merely result in a nominal correction or a thinner board which still contains the defect. Typically, a planer includes a head which is disposed at a desired height above a table. A board to be planed is passed between the planer head (having an elongated cutter) and the table, thereby removing material.
In contrast, a jointer implements a cuttinghead which is disposed between parallel support surfaces to remove material. For example, a jointer may be utilized to flatten a board along its length to form a glue joint. Usually, depending on the hardness of the wood or workpiece, and the like, material may have to be removed in multiple passes (sequential operations) in order to remove a defect. Even when removing relatively small amounts of wood (i.e., a fraction of an inch), an operator may have to feed the material at a slow rate due to the feed pressure and power required to complete the operation. In the foregoing instance, a novice user may tend to force the workpiece thereby resulting in a rough edge. Furthermore, as most jointers are retailed with a 6″ or 8″ (six inch or eight inch) cutter, the effective capacity of these devices is limited. When jointing a large surface (relative to the machine capacity) numerous passes may be required in order to achieve the desired dimensions.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for forming a flat surface on a workpiece which minimizes the amount of skill required by the operator to achieve a desired finished surface.